Africa-Press – South-Africa. Is Tuesday the day President Cyril Ramaphosa comes clean on the Phala Phala saga?
He will have the opportunity to do so during Tuesday afternoon’s question session in the National Assembly because one of the questions he will face from MPs is about the affair.
In June, former director-general at the State Security Agency (SSA) and former commissioner of correctional services Arthur Fraser opened a kidnapping and money laundering case against Ramaphosa, Presidential Protection Unit head Major General Wally Rhoode, and Crime Intelligence for allegedly concealing a burglary at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in February 2020, during which a large sum of foreign currency was stolen.
Ramaphosa has veered away from divulging anything on the alleged cover-up and the extent of his involvement, which caused his previous appearance in the National Assembly – when he delivered the Presidency’s budget vote speech – to descend into chaos as EFF MPs tried to prevent him from speaking.
The political temperature has already been raised ahead of the question session, with DA leader John Steenhuisen accusing National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula of “protecting the executive from accountability”.
Mapisa-Nqakula denied Steenhuisen’s request to ask the president an urgent question.
Steenhuisen wanted Ramaphosa to clarify his statement that the Zondo Commission’s findings were not binding, which he made in his responding affidavit in the DA’s court application to outlaw cadre deployment.
Steenhuisen said in a statement:
“Particularly, Zondo’s conclusion that the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment is ‘illegal and unconstitutional’ should be binding and should therefore decisively end that policy. Without cadre deployment, the ANC would not have been able to control almost every institution of state, making grand state capture possible and shackling all fight-back mechanisms.
“The speaker is meant to be an impartial presiding officer of the National Assembly, which is constitutionally tasked to prevent abuse of power by the executive. But she too is simply a product of cadre deployment, the ANC’s project to ‘control all levers of power’ in the party’s own interest, which enabled state capture in the first place.”
Phala Phala: SSA not involved, no state resources used to conceal evidence – Zizi Kodwa
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said in a statement that the rules did permit members to put urgent questions to the executive.
“In her reply to Mr Steenhuisen, the speaker pointed out that the regime for urgent questions is also regulated in terms of documented practice contained in the Guide to Procedure, 2004, which defines rules based on the history of practice and conventions in the House, and states that a request of that nature will not be granted if the matter can be considered by some other means in the near future. The DA has another opportunity to ask a question to the President on 29 September, in addition to opportunities at the disposal of the party to put written question to the president,” he said.
He added:
Ramaphosa dodges National Assembly’s questions this term
This will be the first time since 17 March that Ramaphosa answers questions in the National Assembly, after the ANC allowed him to dodge questions previously.
At the insistence of the DA, there will be two question sessions this term. The rules require the president to answer questions in the National Assembly at least one time each term.
Apart from a Phala Phala-related question, another question that could prove to be a hot potato is about immigration.
The sitting starts at 14:00.
Here is the complete list of questions:
ANC MP Mosa Chabane:
In view of the growing challenge of illegal migration, which poses an increasing security risk and the proposal to review the immigration laws considering the African Union Agenda 2063 of socio-economic integration of the continent in bringing about an environment of legality, what are the engagements he has with other leaders on the continent, especially in the Southern African Development Community region, to address the challenges of illegal migration?
DA leader John Steenhuisen:
With reference to the commitment he made during his State of the Nation Address on 10 February 2022, that the government would be intensifying the fight against gender-based violence and femicide through the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, and in light of the fact that the number and frequency of gender-based crimes committed in the republic have increased rather than decreased since then, what are the relevant details of the steps he will take in addition to the implementation of the specified plan to ensure that (a) women and girls are protected from gender-based violence and (b) perpetrators of gender-based crimes are prosecuted swiftly?
ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe:
Whether he intends to act on the concerns raised in a warning instruction by the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) (details furnished), warning that the situation in the Republic of South Africa is gradually deteriorating into unrest due to criminality that is taking place within the borders and exacerbated by a perceived lack of action from the security forces to combat criminality; if not, why not; if so, (a) does such an act include his authorisation of the deployment of the SANDF to assist the SA Police Service to contain further unrest and (b) what are the further relevant details?
ANC MP Nonkosi Mvana
: In light of the rising levels of social ills and violence, such as the recent tragic death of 21 teenagers in the Eastern Cape, the eight women who were raped after a media shoot and the gang rape incident in Kagiso, how will the outcomes of the Presidential Social Sector Summit (a) propel efforts to forge a social compact that negate social ills and (b) promote shared values in the family unit and broader society?
ATM leader Vuyo Zungula:
Whether, notwithstanding the ongoing investigations by the Hawks and the Acting Public Protector, he has considered it prudent to take the nation into his confidence on the serious allegations surrounding his Phala Phala farm (details furnished), by accounting to the people of South Africa and speaking on the specified issue in the National Assembly, where the elected representatives of the people can engage him on the scandal that has divided the country and caused immeasurable harm to the reputation of the republic; whether with the benefit of hindsight, he has found that he could have responded differently to the serious allegations surrounding him with regard to the entire saga around his Phala Phala farm?
ANC MP Mikateko Mahlaule:
Given that the major constraint to scaling up renewables is that the grid is not reconfigured for renewables and that reliability maintenance requires the switching off of the plants for a few months at a time, how will (a) the doubled Bid Window 6 renewables supply energy to the grid that in its current configuration is designed for Eskom power plants and (b) the reliability maintenance be carried out without resulting in higher stages of load shedding?
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